


that one high school au

by InLust



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Romance, Coming Out, Crushes, F/F, Flirting, High School AU, Lab Partners, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Tutoring, star city high school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-06 17:22:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14061732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InLust/pseuds/InLust
Summary: A mini-series of standalone fics set in Star City High School where all the girls are queer [aka join me in rare pair hell]1. Laurel/Dinah2. Sara/Caitlin3. Felicity/Iris4. Amaya/Zari5. Kara/Thea6. Alex/Lucy





	1. laurel/dinah + tutoring

**Author's Note:**

> sooooo sorry for the massive amount of characters i'm definitely trying to do some character study but also just wanted to create a fun AU for the girls i'm going to try to post them all soon so no one is like "when is my ship coming through" i've done something like this before and yes they do all interconnect so you'll see characters appear in other stuff
> 
> anyway i hope you enjoy!

It’s a cloudy morning as Laurel drives into school parking lot. There are a few cars already there but Laurel only cares about the black motorcycle that’s sitting amongst the cars. She smiles to herself before turning off her car and unbuckling her seatbelt. 

Beside her, Sara sleeps with a faint snore and mouth slightly open. The rustling wakes her up and she lets out a moan upon seeing the outside of the school.

“Can you _please_ tell me why we are driving to school so freaking early?” Sara complains through her loud yawn. Her eyes are barely open and she can barely move. 

“I told you, I needed to get here early because I have to tutor someone,” Laurel says as looks at herself in the mirror to make sure her hair isn’t a mess. 

Sara rubs her eyes tiredly, turning on her side to try and sleep some more. Through her half open eyes, she sees her sister fixing her hair in the tiny mirror. There’s a sly smile on her face. “Just _tutoring_?” 

Laurel’s cheeks warm. “Duh, just tutoring. What else would I be doing?”

Sara narrows her eyes skeptically at her sister and she looks over to the parked cars until she also spies the motorcycle. “Dinah Drake,” she cheekily responds before leaning against the seat again. 

“Oh my god, I’m just tutoring her!” Laurel is scandalized by Sara’s insinuation. She wrenches the door open and practically jumps out of the car. “Also, get out of my car.” She slams the door shut.

“Aw what why?” Sara whines, picking up her head. “I was going to sleep some more.” 

“Because I don’t want you to be late to homeroom,” Laurel says popping open the back seat to pull out her backpack. “Dad is going to kill me for you being late to homeroom _again_ , which means I’m going to kill you.” Laurel slams the door shut for emphasis. 

Sara grumbles as she grabs her backpack and stumbles out of the car. “I don’t know what the big deal is.” She follows Laurel towards the building. 

“It doesn’t hurt to be a good student so you don’t give mom and dad a headache,” Laurel says as she throws her backpack on. 

“It’s just homeroom, we don’t learn anything,” Sara says before another yawn comes through. “And I’m tired. My tae kwon do competition is this Thursday and I can’t nail the third high kick.” 

“Staying up all night training isn’t going to help you get an education.”

“That scholarship is going to though,” Sara argues, a little bit more awake as they make it to the doors. “I’m not fancy smart like you are, so if I wanna go to college then this is the best way I can do it.” 

Laurel stops and looks at her sister sympathetically. She knows that money has been a little tight in the house and that even though she’s secured scholarships for college next year, there’s still a hefty amount that their mom and dad still have to pay for. While, she’s been aware of that, she wasn’t sure Sara was, what with her obsession with training. 

She takes a calming breath. “Look, it’s good that you want to help, but you need to focus on school too. Either that you’re not going to get into college.” Sara rolls her eyes and looks away from Laurel, too tired to argue. “At least sleep in your homeroom so that you will definitely not be late.”

Sara throws her head back and groans loudly. “Ugh, that’s what all the nerds do.” 

Laurel laughs at this before pushing Sara along to shoo her. 

Sara grumbles as she goes and Laurel turns to walk towards the library. As she does she hears, “Have fun ‘tutoring’ Dinah!” 

Laurel swivels around to flip Sara off and Sara turns the corner with an echoing laugh. 

It’s honestly just a silly crush and Laurel shouldn’t be so flustered by it. She barely even knows Dinah; all she does know is that Dinah is bad at US History and she’s ridiculously beautiful when she speaks Spanish. 

“Hey, I’m sorry I’m late,” Dinah says as she slides into the seat next to Laurel, a bit out of breath. “Drill team ran a bit late because the competition is on Saturday.” 

Laurel snaps out of her reverie and takes a moment to stare at Dinah. Of course, she also knows that Dinah is on JROTC, which doesn’t help because she’s discovered how attractive Dinah looks in her powder blue button up and navy blazer with all her small medals with her brown hair tied up into an immaculate bun. 

Dinah unbuttons her jacket and throws it over her seat before pulling out her notebooks. 

“It’s alright,” Laurel stutters, tucking her hair behind her ear. “You’re right on time.” 

Dinah smirks and Laurel feels her heart race. It is way too early in the morning to have a heart attack, but Laurel think she might. 

“Early is on time and on time is late,” Dinah says, opening up the history book. 

Laurel nods. “That is something I agree with.” 

“Which is why I’m sorry for being late.” Dinah bumps her shoulder with Laurel. 

It’s then she realizes how close they are sitting next to each other. On top of that, Dinah’s playful tone has Laurel blushing wildly.

Laurel bites her lip before reaching for her own textbook. “It’s okay really, you must be exceptional at drill with all those ribbons and medals,” she says conversationally. 

Dinah glances back at the five full rows of ribbons with a sixth one starting with just one ribbon and the four medals underneath. She shrugs casually. “That’s what they keep telling me.” 

Laurel raises an eyebrow curiously. She’s tempted to ask why Dinah doesn’t seem like she enjoys that fact, but instead she keeps her mouth shut.

Dinah catches the look on her face though and it’s like she knows what Laurel wants to ask. “I do enjoy it,” Dinah answers the wordless question, “but it’s not what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.” 

Laurel’s eyes widen. “So what do you want to do?” she’s rapt with interest. 

Dinah looks down shyly before looking around as if someone’s listening. She leans in imperceptibly into Laurel’s space before whispering, “I want to be a cop.” 

“Here, in Star City?” Laurel asks with wide eyes. “That’s pretty dangerous.”

Dinah purses her lips and nods. “Our city isn’t the best. It’s probably one of the most dangerous cities right now with all the gun violence and turf wars, but it’s our city. I think we can make a difference if we want to and I want it to start with me.” 

Laurel lets out a small gasp. There’s so much confidence and passion in Dinah’s voice that leaves her awe struck. “That’s really inspirational,” Laurel says. 

Dinah actually blushes and drops her head before glancing up at her. “Now you’re just being nice.” 

Laurel reaches out quickly for Dinah’s hand and shakes her head. “No, no! I really mean it. It’s great that you want to be a cop for Star City. You’re right about wanting to make a difference. I feel the same; all the corruption and unfair incarceration, it’s why I want to become a lawyer.” 

Dinah looks as impressed with Laurel as Laurel does with Dinah. She turns her hand to hold Laurel’s and stares while lacing their fingers. It’s extremely intimate that warms Laurel all over.

“Look at us,” Dinah wiggles her eyebrows, “ _Law and Order_.” 

Laurel giggles and rolls her eyes. “You’re actually a nerd.”  

“What? We can be Olivia Benson and Alexandra Cabot.” 


	2. sara/caitlin + lab partners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cool badass sara lance defends her lab partner caitlin snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly im still about this ship since my 'that one coffee shop au' fic

In the background, Sara can vaguely hear the energetic sounds of her classmates as they filter into homeroom. She doesn’t really care as she tries to sleep as well as she can until the bell rings. Her head is propped precariously on her hand and she gently sways to keep her balance. 

Suddenly, her elbow is slapped from underneath her and her face slams into the desk with a loud thud. 

“ _ **Motherfu**_ \--”

“ _Ms_. _Lance_!” Ms. Prince instantly chides before she can finish her swear. There’s a charming laugh beside her. “Ms. _Danvers_.” Sara rubs her cheek and glares at Alex, who is taking the seat beside her with a cheeky smile. Alex politely apologizes but Sara knows she isn’t sorry.

“For someone who is supposed to be a superhero, your reflexes suck,” Alex jokes.

“I’m not a superhero,” Sara grumbles. She stops rubbing her cheeks and rubs her eyes instead. She lets out a satisfied moan as she stretches. “Don’t you have better things to do than bother me in the morning?” 

Alex nods like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. While Alex pulls out her giant biology textbook for the insane dual enrollment course she’s taking, Sara leans against her comfortably to get a few more minutes of shut eye. To her surprise, Alex lets her. She used to be a lot more skittish if a cute girl even looked in her direction, maybe she’s getting comfortable. 

“For someone who supposedly hates sports, you’re pretty firm,” Sara points out as they walk to class. She flirtatiously squeezes Alex’s shoulders. “Not that I’m complaining, I like it.” 

Alex scoffs, blushing at the mere mention. “I’m not just a bookworm.” 

“Oh really?” Sara goes on, sidling up closer to Alex. “Is that not the only place you’re firm?” She grabs Alex’s ass for good measure. 

Alex jumps at this. “Sara!” she yells mortified as she pushes Sara. Sara stumbles away with a laugh before sidling up beside Alex again. 

“Don’t play coy Danvers,” Sara goes on. “If you got it, flaunt it.” 

Just as she says that a small group walks by them, with giggles and whispers. Alex goes quiet as they cross in the hallway. Sara stares to see a group of cheerleaders, wearing their deep blue and white uniforms with Star emblazoned across their chests. It’s a bit obnoxious but Sara can’t deny that they are attractive in their own way. They’d be more attractive if they were of course...less _cliquey_. Something about group think just confuses Sara. 

She pays no mind to them as they walk by and a few of them look in their direction. 

Alex on the other hand, shyly looks away. 

Sara stares at Alex carefully before glaring at the girls walking by. She knows what those girls say sometimes. “You want me to beat them up?” she mutters to Alex. 

Alex’s eyes widen. “No! It’s fine. It’s not a big deal,” she says quickly. She glances by the group. 

Just as Sara thinks they’re all just going to walk away with their stares and whispers, one among the crowd stops. 

Lucy Lane turns her head to Alex with a smirk on her lips. Sara raises her eyebrows, expecting a rude comment but instead, “Ready for that bio exam, Danvers?” she sounds almost teasing. 

Alex turns her head to look at the shorter girl and Sara notices how red the back of her neck is. “ _Are you_?” Alex snaps back.

Sara just shakes her head at the dumbest come back she’s ever heard. Lucy doesn’t seem to mind so much and she bites her lip as she walks away. She looks at Alex, who is still red. “Do you _like_ her?” Sara whispers conspiratorially. 

Alex’s cheeks turn red as she looks back to Sara. “No! What? Lane? Not a chance,” she protests hotly before tugging at the collar of her flannel. 

Sara narrows her eyes playfully as they move to keep walking. “I mean, she’s hot. I get that. She likes _play_ fighting with you. I also get that.” 

“Oh god, shut up,” Alex exasperatedly lets out. 

Sara laughs. Just as she’s about to tease Alex some more, she hears a low _oof_ followed by fluttering of papers and thuds of textbooks on the ground. 

Outside of her textbook she sees a few football players laugh as they skirt around the girl dropping down onto her hands and knees to pick up her textbooks. Sara clenches her fists beside her and she yells, “Hey you baboons!”

Unfortunately, the football players who were laughing stop and stare, completely offended at her as she approaches them. 

“Are you talking to us?” Monel asks, puffing out his chest. 

Sara rolls her eyes. “You responded,” she steps toe to toe with the boy who is well over six inches than her.

“What’s your problem?”

“You knocked over Caitlin’s books,” Sara answers as she turns to see Caitlin staring at her with wide eyes before gathering her books even faster. Alex is there to help her. 

“It’s not my fault she has so many. She got in my way.” 

Sara raises her eyebrows as high as they can go. “Excuse me? She’s walking to class minding her own business and your herd of ass monkeys were in her way.”

Monel turns red in the face. “Don’t talk to me like that.” 

“I’ll talk to you however I want to,” Sara snaps back. She grabs him by the collar of his varsity jacket and tugs him forward. All of his teammates step forward also but Sara doesn’t care. “Go apologize to Caitlin right now.” 

There’s a small tap on her back and she sees Caitlin sheepishly pushing back her light brown locks, hugging her books to her chest. 

“Sara, it’s okay,” Caitlin says softly. 

Sara looks back at Caitlin carefully and she shakes her head, really not wanting any problems. She looks back at Monel, who tries to play tough but she can see the fear in his eyes. They all know what she can do. 

“They’re not worth it,” Alex mutters on the other side of Sara. She says it firmly with a glare as dark as Sara’s. 

Sara nods in agreement and pushes Monel back so hard he stumbles into his teammates. He straightens up his jacket and shoots her a nasty look like he got his power back. He doesn’t say anything else as they walk away from the girls. 

Alex shakes her head as Sara lets out a frustrated sigh. 

“Man, I really hate those guys,” Sara says. 

“You’re telling me,” Alex adds. “I can’t believe Kara dated that asshole. I don’t get what she saw in him.” 

Sara uses this opportunity to cheer up and tease Alex. “That’s because you aren’t attracted to men.” 

Alex rolls her eyes and pushes Sara again. “Get to class. I’ll see you at lunch. Bye Caitlin.” 

Sara turns back and sees Caitlin still standing there, waving goodbye to Alex. She looks apologetic as she hugs her books; she chews on her bottom lip. “Are you okay?” Sara asks. 

Caitlin bobs her head, her light brown hair moving in waves down her shoulders. Sara tries not to stare. “Thank you for that,” she says. 

Sara smiles. “It’s not a big deal; scaring assholes for cute girls is kind of my jam.” Caitlin blushes at this. “Let’s get into lab before Dr. Wells revokes your favorite student title.” 

Caitlin smiles shyly, knowing that Sara’s teasing is more friendly than mean. 

While Sara isn’t the best lab partner that Caitlin could hope for, she’s glad that she has Sara regardless. Sara is nice, kind in her own way, despite her surprisingly rough exterior. She’s changed a lot since dating Ollie. Then again, there was no way to tell what kind of relationship they had considering Ollie and Laurel had dated right before they got together. It was a whole ordeal when she broke up with Ollie to date Nyssa but subsequently breaking up when she moved back to England-- _not that it mattered_ to Caitlin who Sara was dating.  

Sara wasn’t exceptional at the sciences, but she was a great sounding board. 

It made her blush when Caitlin would explain what Dr. Wells had lectured on when they started working on the lab together and Sara would just stare at her. 

“You want to be careful not to cut into the organs,” Caitlin says carefully as Sara holds the scalpel over the frog. 

Sara raises an eyebrow, not bothered by Caitlin’s fussing. Instead, she twirls the scalpel between her fingers, almost expertly that alarms Caitlin, and holds it before her. “Care to take the lead?” 

Caitlin shakes her head. “I don’t want to take this learning opportunity from you.” 

Sara purses her lip skeptically. She flips the scalpel back, catching the handle in her palm. 

“Just--please be careful,” Caitlin adds with worry. 

Sara tilts her head towards the frog. “How about this?” She reaches across her body for Caitlin’s hand and places it around hers. “You can guide me.” 

Caitlin blushes because her arm is along Sara’s arm and her hand is comfortably resting over Sara’s. Suddenly, she’s extremely close and her whole body warms with Sara’s. “Uh-I-I could--I mean if you want me to,” she stutters out nervously. 

Sara smirks at her. “Oh I want you to.” 

At this, Caitlin blushes, looking down unsure. “Are you flirting with me?” she awkwardly asks.

“Would it bother you if I am?” Sara returns. 

Caitlin feels her heart pounding and shakes her head. “I just don’t get why you would want to flirt with me that’s all.” She tries to busy herself, readjusting Sara’s fingers under hers to grasp the scalpel properly, loosening her grip just a bit, holding her thumb against the flat handle, and forefinger along the top of the blade. Sara eases into it before moving the blade against the flesh. 

“You’re pretty, smart, and nice. A nice wholesome girl that knows what she likes.” 

“Oh.” She lets out a giggle. “Most people don’t say that about the nerdy sophomore that takes junior classes.” 

Sara shrugs. “Most people aren’t me.” 

Caitlin hums. She feels her cheeks warm as she nods in agreement. There’s an affectionate smile on Sara’s face before she guides her hand. They spend the lab unnecessarily close, but it doesn’t bother Caitlin one bit.


	3. felicity/iris + nerdy/popular

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> felicity and iris have a great friendship but felicity is a little bit oblivious that there could be something more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> say hello to writing so many voices in one scenes!
> 
> this is me doing a lot of characterizations i hope it works out like i think it does!

Felicity is furiously typing away at her computer and when she glances up, she can definitely see Zari doing the same exact thing. There’s no chance she’s losing this time. She’s got money at stake here. 

“How long have they been going at it?” Barry asks as he sits down across from Kara. 

Kara glances over Zari’s shoulder. “Just 4 minutes and 10 seconds,” she says as she tries to slyly reach for a french fry. 

Zari notices in the corner of her eyes and slaps her hand, somehow still able to type with one hand. “Don’t take my food,” she growls as she grabs a fry of her own to shove into her mouth, barely making her mouth. 

“You’re not even going to finish your food,” Kara whines as she tries to reach again. 

Zari slaps her hand away again. “Stop it, you’re distracting me.” She’s not looking at her screen because she’s glancing at Felicity over her screen. 

“How are you typing so quickly?” Amaya asks as she slides into the seat on the other side of Zari. She peers over her shoulder really closely. 

Zari holds her breath. “Macros help,” she informs. 

Felicity’s ears perk and her eyes go wide. “Macrons? Are you kidding me?” she screeches. “That’s totally cheating.”

“You said we had to hack. Not _how_ to hack. So I’m hacking this hack,” Zari smartly responds. 

Felicity huffs before she continues furiously at her computer. “Girls, distract her! There’s a lot at stake here.” 

Kara furrows her brows. “What’s at stake? You guys are trying to hack into the---oh my god, is this the _FBI_?” 

Barry and Amaya shoot their eyes to the screens. 

Both Felicity and Zari shrug off the two from staring at them. 

“We’re not _hacking_ into the FBI--” Zari denies. 

“We are just doing some _recon_ \--” Felicity adds. 

“To figure out weak points in their _firewall_ \--” 

“That way we can see if there a backway--”

“To access their files and _download_ them.” 

Kara and Barry share the same mortified look at their friends finishing each other’s sentences before staring wide eye at each other. 

“That was _eerie_ ,” Kara notes aloud to Barry. 

Barry looks concerned. “Yeah, like twin level eerie.” 

“Like you two aren’t,” Felicity and Zari simultaneously say. 

“ _Hey_!” Both Barry and Kara exclaim before sheepishly looking at each other. They both sigh. “They have a point.”

Amaya sits there and laughs at the four of them. “This should go down in the books.” 

“I’m in!” Zari yells. 

“Fudge cakes!” Felicity adds on before her screen changes. “Oh, wait me too!” 

Zari looks up from her screen with excitement and reaches over their laptops for a high five. “ _Whoo!_ Alright, we have 25 seconds to get out and clear our signatures.”

“Already on it,” Felicity chimes in. 

“I thought you guys were competing,” Barry points out. 

Neither of them respond as they continue to furiously type for the next 25 seconds. When they’re finally done, their programs have closed and they both release the biggest breaths they’ve apparently held onto for the last 7 minutes. 

“We do compete,” Zari answers as she happily starts eating her fries again. “I won by the way.”

“Fair and square,” Felicity agrees as she pulls out a jump drive from her laptop and hands it to Zari. “I expect quality refinement on these.” 

“You got it, Smoak,” Zari says taking the jump drive and slipping it into her breast pocket. Beside her, Amaya smiles proudly and pushes over a boat of vegetables. Zari scrunches her nose up in distaste but still takes a carrot to nibble on. 

“You two are the weirdest competitors ever,” Barry notes aloud. 

“Well, the most we lose is our pride, but it means one of us has a better hacking program, so we trade tips and learn more from each other,” Felicity states as she takes a bite out of her sandwich. 

“Women supporting women, I _love_ that,” Iris says as she slides in right next to Felicity. She places two coffees from Jitters down in front of her. 

“Iris, hi!” Felicity greets happily, almost choking on her sandwich. She coughs it down as everyone stares in amusement, except for Iris. 

“Slow down!” Iris chides as she rubs Felicity’s back.

Felicity feels her cheeks get warm and it isn’t because of the coughing fit she’s going through. It takes her a few coughs before the food gets down her windpipe. 

“Easy there,” Iris chuckles as she continues to rub Felicity’s back. 

“It was a big piece of meat,” Felicity coughs again, making sure her throat was clear. She reaches for her milk to drink. 

“ _Gross_ ,” Kara and Barry both say. 

The rest of the girls stare at them in disgust. 

“Not like that!” Felicity exclaims. “Stop being gross you two!” She pushes her glasses up to hide her embarrassment and looks back to Iris. “I’m sorry they’re gross.” 

Iris just smiles. “I live with Barry, I already knew that he was a bit gross.” 

“Hey! Not cool, Iris,” Barry says as he chucks a peanut in her direction. 

Iris just casually leans over and catches it with her mouth garnering a cheer from the table. She reaches behind Felicity to give him a high five, when she’s done she drapes her arm casually around Felicity’s shoulder and her face is so close. 

“I got you something,” Iris says as she reaches for one of the coffees. 

Felicity melts at this, “ _Awwww_ , thanks so much!” She grabs the coffee with two hands and almost hugs it before taking a nice sip, expecting it to be a simple coffee like Iris drinks. “Caramel macchiato is my favorite. How’d you know?”

“Just something I remembered,” Iris says casually. Felicity basically turns into putty between Iris’s arm around her shoulder and the sweet gesture. “Listen, I was wondering if I could ask for a favor.” 

“Oh, okay, sure,” Felicity automatically says even if there is a mild disappointment that follows her sweet drink. “What do you need?”

“Well, I have to go to this screening at the Planetarium for my astronomy class,” Iris starts, almost shyly. Felicity knows that Iris hates the sciences and maths because she gets so distracted. “I was wondering if you would come with me? That way I don’t look completely clueless when I get there.” 

“I’m not a big space person but that sounds fun,” Felicity says with a bright smile. “I’d love to go.” She then turns to Kara. “Don’t you love the Planetarium too?”

“Oh, I love the Planetarium!” Kara chimes in happily. 

There’s a thump below the table and Kara drops her fry. Felicity looks in confusion as she catches Barry shooting Kara a look. 

“Oh, but I’m busy, I’ve got things that day to...tutoring people?” Kara slowly says, looking at Barry in the corner of her eyes for approval. 

Felicity shoots them a strange look before looking back at Iris. “When were you thinking of going?” 

Iris smiles. “Tomorrow? I can pick you up at 6?” 

Felicity nods and picks up her phone. “Sounds good, just going to put this in my calendar and let my mom know.” 

Iris finally lets go of Felicity to reach for her coffee. “Perfect, it’s a date,” she declares as she stands up. “I’ll see you later.” She shoots Felicity a quick wink before heading out, waving everyone goodbye.

Felicity sends her off with a small wave, still holding onto the warm cup of coffee. She sighs wistfully as she takes another sip. She looks back at Barry and Kara. “What was up with you two just now?”

“Nothing,” Barry instantly says before Kara can get another word out. “Kara, just forgets her schedule sometimes. And she already goes to the Planetarium way too much.” 

“Hey, I do not,” Kara argues. “I just happen to work there on the weekends. Other than the fact that it is a _cool_ place to be.” 

Zari looks at Barry and Kara as if they’ve grown three heads before looking directly at Felicity. “Felicity, she just asked you out on a date,” she deadpans. “Barry was wingmanning Iris.” 

“Z!” Barry exclaims. “I was _n_ ot!” 

Amaya snickers beside Zari as she snaps into a carrot. “Zari is right. Don’t deny it Barry.” 

Kara gasps with excitement. “Noooo wayyyyy, Iris likes Felicity?” She looks over at Zari. “I thought she was just really friendly all the time.” 

“She doesn’t get me coffee,” Zari points out.

“That’s because you don’t like anyone,” Barry counters. 

“Wrong,” Amaya says proudly. 

Zari rolls her eyes and Amaya’s comment. “She finds any excuse to talk to Felicity and any excuse to touch her.” 

“She’s always been touchy,” Felicity points out. “I thought that was like a cheerleader thing.” 

Kara thinks about it for a moment. “Hmm, I guess you can’t tell. Lucy is always all over Alex,” she says aloud. All eyes suddenly fall on her. “Oh.” She lets out realizing she was thinking aloud. “I mean just in general, but it seems like Iris likes Felicity. 6pm on a Friday night is a date night right?” 

There’s a resounding agreement. The realization dawns on Felicity, hard and fast, and she blanches in mortification before looking at Barry. 

“Is this really a date?” she asks him quickly, grabbing him by the cardigan to make sure he doesn’t run away. 

Barry shrinks back in fear. “Maybe?” he squeaks. “It really isn’t my business.” 

“You live with her, of course it’s your business!” Felicity asserts. 

Barry doesn’t take long to cave and he throws up his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine! It is a date! She _likes_ you, but she wanted to tell you herself. She just needed to make sure you’d get to hang out with her _alone_.” 

“What?” Felicity presses. “Iris _likes_ **me**?” 

“ _Duhhhhhhh_ ding dong,” Zari points out, annoyed. Amaya gently pushes her. “I mean, of course Iris likes you, you oblivious nerd.” 

Felicity pushes her glasses up in offense. “ _Excuse_ _me_! I am _not_ a nerd.” 

“But you are oblivious,” Kara chimes in, earning a look of approval from Zari that she soaks up.   

“Iris _likes_ me,” Felicity tries to process everything, “and she wants to go on a date with me?” She grabs onto Barry again. “You’ve gotta help me!”   



	4. Zari/Amaya + best friends to lovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zari and Amaya have been dating for six mon--EXCUSE ME? ZARI AND AMAYA HAVE BEEN DATING?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this features best friends to lovers; zari being a grump and amaya being a sweetheart; everyone already thinks they're dating
> 
> i struggled with this i dont know why but im pretty sure it was because i was wondering how this situation could ever be cute when it could be more shocking...here i go again rewriting the formula for all these cute ass prompts 
> 
> anyway i hope you enjoy!

Zari feels her stomach grumble as they make it to last period. She shouldn’t have eaten her lunch so quickly, then she would’ve been full longer. Or at least saved some of it for last period. 

Zatanna always let them eat in Drama, away from the costumes and stage of course. _Hell_ , she let the students call her Zatanna. 

“Zari, make sure the music starts playing...now,” Zatanna says beside her. 

Zari nods and hits the key for sound then scratches the note in her script. Through the music, Zari’s stomach growls lowly. 

Zatanna looks at Zari with a raised eyebrow. “Not eating enough?” she asks with concern. 

Zari shakes her head. “Just digesting,” she lies as she focuses hard on the scene playing before them. 

At the end of the number, Zatanna tells everyone to take five so she can give more pointers. Zari just sits back at the sound station and rifles through her backpack just to make sure she has something to eat. 

Just as she gives up, a granola bar is held out before her. It’s a mint chocolate _Kind bar_ and she stares in confusion at the luxurious bar before trailing up the hand of the owner. 

Amaya smiles when her eyes meet Zari’s and she still holds out the bar as she takes a seat in next to her. “Thought you’d be hungry,” she says simply. 

Zari shares a small smile, taking the _Kind bar_. “Thanks,” she shyly says. 

Usually Zari likes to swipe food just to annoy people so they don’t notice that she actually needs it. However, Amaya is the only that can offer Zari food without offending her (since she has too much pride to ask for food). 

Just as Zari bites into the bar, Amaya says, “Nate’s having a get together at his house today.” 

Zari asks, mouth full, “So what?” 

Amaya smiles endearingly at her and Zari doesn’t notice as she continues to eat. “He invited you to come too. Something about competition and video games.” 

“I can kick his ass online. I don’t need to go over.”

“Oh come on, please?” Amaya begs. 

“Why do you want me to go? They’re mostly _your_ friends.” Zari notices she’s only got the last quarter of the bar left. She slows down because there’s still another 30 minutes of class and she’s definitely still hungry. 

Amaya bumps shoulders with Zari playfully. “They’re _our_ friends and it’s more fun when you’re there.”

Zari reaches for her water bottle and takes a huge gulp. She shrugs, trying to find a viable excuse, instead she opts for silently drinking her water. If she ignores it, maybe Amaya will drop it. 

“Do you really not like them?” Amaya questions carefully after a moment of quiet. 

Zari looks at Amaya and she can see the concern written all over her face. Amaya is easily the most open, gentle hearted person she knows. In a way, Zari is jealous at how easy it is to be Amaya’s friend, but honestly she likes having Amaya as her friend. There’s no one else that compares. She looks away bashfully. 

“I don’t like anyone,” Zari reminds like a tough girl.

Amaya loops her arm with Zari and leans in. “That's not true,” she sings playfully. “You like _me_.”

Zari looks away, this time feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. Of course she likes Amaya, it’s hard not to. She still feel Amaya’s eyes on her, staring affectionately. It isn’t unlike Amaya to do so but it always feels so intimate and Zari doesn’t know how to take it. So she does, what she does best, “You’re tolerable,” she grumbles as some sort of clarification. 

“Tolerable enough to spend time with?” 

Zari lets out a resigned sigh. She isn’t going to say no to Amaya; she physically can’t. Amaya is basically her best friend. “Are you giving me a ride?” she bargains as if it makes a difference. She's going to go for Amaya anyway. 

Amaya brightens almost immediately. “Yes,” she confirms with excitement, “I will see you at your locker 5 minutes after the bell rings.” She squeezes Zari’s arm before leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. 

Zari instantly blushes and shoos Amaya, who has to get back behind the stage as Zatanna calls everyone back. 

Zatanna makes her way next to Zari to watch the stage again. She glances at Zari briefly with a smirk on her lips. “Your fair complexion is no match for Amaya’s lipstick.” 

Zari feels her cheeks burn as she touches where Amaya kissed her earlier. 

True to her word, Amaya was at her locker 5 minutes after the bell rang, waiting to walk Zari to her car so they could head over to Nate’s. Zari was sure if Amaya didn’t show up, then she’d be off scot free.

They stop at the store to grab some snacks at Amaya’s insistence. Zari rolls her eyes, biting the urge to buy a bag of twizzlers because that’d be irresponsible for her wallet. Amaya ends up buying it for her, claiming it’s a thank you for socializing with her. Zari keeps it in mind to pay Amaya back, for the twizzlers, for the donuts, for the fries, the list goes _on and on_ because Amaya seemingly doesn’t mind feeding her. And she is extremely perceptive to when Zari is hungry. 

“I’m so happy you’re here,” Wally says as he sinks into the seat next to Zari on the small cramped couch. 

Zari narrows her eyes because Amaya was literally just sitting there. “Thanks for having me,” Zari says nonchalantly as she takes a swig of her soda. 

“Are you kidding me? We love having you,” Nate reaffirms as he reaches over to clink his can with hers. 

Zari just snorts as she drinks her soda. 

“You’re really cool, even if you pretend to hate us,” Wally insists with excitement as he reaches for the controller. 

Nate starts the game and distractedly adds, “And just because you’re Amaya’s girlfriend doesn’t mean that we can’t _all_ be friends.” 

Zari chokes on her soda. “What?”

“What _what_?” Wally asks. “Aw man, I wanted Subzero.” 

“That thing about Amaya and I--” Zari isn’t even sure she can bring herself to say it because the thought has never occurred to her. “ _Girlfriends_?” she unconsciously lets out regardless. 

Nate glances at her in confusion. “Yeah...haven’t you guys been dating for like six months now?” he points out like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Oh dude--” he pauses the game “-I’m so sorry, was that supposed to be a _secret_?” He looks genuinely apologetic as he stares at her carefully. 

Zari just stares back in confusion, feeling warmer and warmer by the second. Her heart starts to race and her brain begins to overthink and suddenly she’s stuttering and stumbling for a response, “Wha-what-do-is there-- _how_?” She has about five questions but she doesn’t even know what she wants to ask and unconsciously, she thinks of Amaya and she looks around the room for her. 

_ Girlfriends? _

Amaya is standing near the table full of snacks engaged in a thumb war with Mick, who looks intensely focused on trying to best her. Amaya just smiles lightly with endearment and warmth like she always does. Even Mick is a bit of an outsider, Zari sees that, but Amaya can connect with him too. It’s a _thing_ , Amaya is so warm and friendly, she can connect with anyone. 

Zari isn’t _that_ special. She’s another friend of Amaya's. A best friend. So what if when Amaya gets close, she gets warm? So what if Amaya stares at her, she feels her heart race? So what if Amaya just is, she loves it?

There’s a slight panic that starts to settle in at the back of her throat. Her stomach turns over. 

A hand falls on her shoulder, catching her attention. Wally stares at her with concern, “Z, are you okay?”

Zari suddenly notices how close Wally is, noticing all the curves of his face, and she feels the room close in. She pulls back slowly, needing air. She needs to get out of there. “I’m--I should _go_ \--” 

She doesn’t know where but she needs to get out. 

Without another word, she leaves, forgetting her backpack, jacket--rushing outside, not realizing she has the soda can in her hand still. 

Zari doesn’t even get off the porch before she hears the door open behind her. 

“Zari?” Amaya’s soothing voice calls out to her, stopping her in her tracks. 

Zari stops, her whole body feels like it freezes at the sound of Amaya’s voice. She whips around, feeling like it’s some kind of spell that Amaya has her under because as much as she’d like to run away as far as possible, she feels a pull to Amaya. “What?” she demands, trying to calm the hurricane in her heart. 

“Are you okay? You just left--” Amaya steps towards her gingerly, like Zari is a startled animal. 

Zari clenches her hand around the can of soda. “I just--I need to go.” She hears the aluminum crinkle in her hand before she puts it down on the porch. 

“Wait, don’t go,” Amaya says quickly as Zari is about to turn. “What’s going on? What happened?”

Zari rubs her face in frustration. She doesn’t even know where to start. She could’ve just taken it in stride, called the boys stupid and wrong because she and Amaya were definitely not dating. She could’ve just ignored it completely, letting it drop as if it was nothing. 

Now it is something because Zari feels all of her emotions whipping around her. She does like Amaya. She has thought about Amaya being with her. As maybe more than friends. But it was all fleeting, silly daydreams because Amaya is Amaya and she's just Zari. 

Amaya steps closer, very much in Zari’s space. 

As much as it throws Zari off, she likes when Amaya is near. She’s comfortable around Amaya enough to _let_ her get close. She’s the only person that Zari has ever felt connected to other than her family. Her heart clenches inside of her because she’s confused and frustrated and she’s getting a bit lost. “What is going on with me?” Zari mumbles as she pinches the bridge of her nose. 

“Hey, take your time,” Amaya soothes, hands coming up to rub Zari’s upper arms. “Did one of the guys say something stupid again?”

Zari shakes her head. She keeps shaking it because she feels ridiculous. “Why--why do they think we’re dating?” she almost demands, unable to hide her embarrassment. 

Amaya doesn’t answer right away. She pauses, eyes wide, in genuine surprise. 

Zari looks at Amaya’s eyes, searching for an answer. She doesn’t even know what she’s hoping for. She hopes that Amaya brushes it off casually and warmly tells her the guys are being ridiculous. The seconds tick by. She hopes that Amaya says yes they are--no, that’s ridiculous. “It’s ridiculous right?” Zari blurts out. “Like why would they think that we’re dating? We’re best friends. We’re close--we’re friends that do normal things--Amaya--”

“I like you!” Amaya blurts out. 

Zari feels her heart jump. “What?”

It takes her a moment to realize that Amaya is breathing heavily, like she’s been holding her breath for a long time, her eyes are wide with panic and darting quickly with uncertainty, and her hands are carefully on Zari like she’s porcelain now. “I like you, Zari,” she repeats, this time quietly. “I like like you. You don't think I go out of my way for just anyone do you? Because you’re not _anyone_. You're Zari. You’re special.”

“What?” Zari feels like a broken record. She’s stunned and she isn’t sure if she’s hearing everything right. “Are you serious?” 

“Yes, I am. I’ve liked you for a long time now, I just never knew how to say it,” Amaya admits, blushing as she looks at Zari tenderly. 

Zari warms at the stare before she realizes her emotions are still teeming. “But we’re best friends.”

Amaya stares sadly, eyes dimming as she tries to avert her eyes from Zari. “I know,” she sounds resigned as she drops her hands. “I understand if that’s how you feel. I’d rather have you as my friend than nothing at all, which is why I never told you.”

“Were you just never planning to tell me?” Zari asks quickly. 

Amaya purses her lips and shrugs but Zari knows what Amaya means. “I like what we have. I didn't want to ruin it.”

“But you _like_ me,” Zari points out. 

Amaya nods again. “If it makes you uncomfortable, I’m sorry.”

Zari shakes her head quickly. “It’s not that. I’m sorry. I just--there are a lot of thoughts and emotions I’ve got going on and I’m not sure I know what’s going on. It’s a lot to process because I wasn’t expecting this.”

Amaya goes quiet, letting Zari explain herself like she always does. Amaya is patient when it comes to Zari, willing to listen even if Zari doesn’t feel like talking. It always surprises Zari how easy it is with Amaya.

“I...I like you too…” Zari says softly, feeling her cheeks warm. “That’s why I kind of panicked...I thought you were my friend and thinking of you as my girlfriend...that’s different. Like crazy different that I couldn’t wrap my head around it because you’re so you all the time. You're fun to be around, everyone loves you, and you're the nicest person anyone could ask for. It’s wonderful because somehow you put up with _me_.”

“I like how you are,” Amaya insists, interrupting Zari’s rambling. “It’s--you're you.” She stops with a blush of her own. 

Zari feels her heart continue to race inside of her but not out of panic. She doesn’t even know what to say because Amaya knows how she feels and Zari feels like a mess. Instead of saying anything, she moves in closer to Amaya so she can do **_the_ _thing_**. 

Amaya looks surprised as Zari moves in close, face moving towards her shoulder. It takes her a moment before she wraps her arms around Zari’s shoulders like she always does when she says goodbye. Amaya pulls her into an embarrassingly close hug that ends up with Zari’s face hidden in her shoulder. Zari always grumbles against it, but she lets it happen. It feels different now as Amaya holds Zari, but the comfort is all the same.

Zari slowly wraps her arms around Amaya’s waist. 

They just stand there for a moment, reveling in their hug. 

“You’re my best friend,” Zari admits like it’s a secret. Amaya feels the intimacy warm her chest. “And I like you.”

Amaya can’t help but smile. “I like you too.”

“How do we do this thing?” Zari asks quietly. “Apparently we’ve been dating for six months and I’ve just been ignoring my feelings…”

Amaya hums as she hugs Zari tighter. “Whatever we do, we do together.”

Zari doesn’t say anything and nods, relaxing into the hug before pulling Amaya closer. “I’d like that.”


	5. kara/thea + good girl/bad girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara is the nicest person in all of Star City High school, so you can't not turn heads when she tutors Thea Queen of all people

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh warning for implied past drug abuse and sexual assault  
> uhm welcome to rare pair hope you find this interesting *winkwink* i thought it'd be cute and im working on more characterization and building up to the final couple here

Kara finishes lunch a little earlier than usual to get a jump on study hall.

As she makes her way to the library she spots Iris and Lucy standing outside of the girls’ bathroom.

“I’m so happy for you!” Lucy says as she reaches up to give Iris a hug.

Iris welcomes the hug happily and pulls Lucy in. “Are you kidding me? If it wasn’t for you I don’t think I could’ve done it.”

“Oh, it was all you,” Lucy insists. “Trust me, Iris, any girl would be blessed to be liked by you.”

“I _really_ hope she likes me back,” Iris says almost nervously.

Kara smiles to herself as she listens on, hugging the books to her chest while she walks by.

Iris notices her presence instantly and her eyes widen immediately. Lucy on the other hand just turns to notice Kara’s presence and smiles brightly at her.

“Hey Kara!” Lucy greets. “Going to study hall?”

Kara nods to the both of them shyly. To say that Lucy and Iris were _pretty_ would be a gross understatement, because she finds them both extremely _beautiful_ inside and out. It makes it difficult to act like a normal human being around them sometimes because she practically worships the ground they walk on. Especially Lucy, who she really admires.

“Oh my god, did you hear our whole conversation?” Iris asks with worry across her face. Lucy giggles before placing a comforting hand on Iris’s arms to pull her in.

Kara feels her cheeks redden because it’s not like she can lie. “N- _no_.” She stammers nervously for a moment before settling on, “Yes. I’m sorry, I was just walking by and I heard. But I promise I won’t tell her! I just thought it was sweet that you’re nervous.”

This time Iris blushes at being called out for her nerves. “This is so embarrassing,” Iris murmurs as she backs into the bathroom quickly.

It leaves Lucy standing there surprised as Iris goes to hide in the bathroom. “There she goes, I guess?” Lucy notes playfully to Kara.

Kara feels a bit guilty. “Should I go apologize again? I really didn’t mean to make her feel embarrassed. I do think it’s sweet that she likes Felicity.”

Lucy waves her hand. “No, no. Just give her some time. Felicity is like the first girl that she’s ever liked and she’s scared of messing it up. Nerves really gets to people.”

Kara is a little skeptical but she nods. “You sound like quite the expert.”

Lucy chuckles as she tucks her hair behind her ear. “I’m not an expert trust me. Either that I wouldn’t be in my own little...situation.”

Kara softens. She’s known Lucy since she’s moved there and they were good friends. In fact, they were friends before Lucy and Alex were frenemies and now _friends?_ Kara isn't sure. “Are you still giving her time?” Kara asks carefully, unconsciously looking over her shoulders.

Lucy blushes a little bit and she nods. She thinks about whether or not to confide in Kara anymore than she already has. After all, Kara is probably the only one that knows both sides of the story, but then again Alex and Lucy are both so private with their feelings.

“It’s okay,” Lucy positively settles on. She seems to stand up straighter, back strong, and head high. “I’ll see you later today? Alex and I are supposed to work on our Biology poster today.”

“Oh, I won’t be home until late. I’m going over to Thea’s house.”

Lucy’s eyes widen the minute Kara says _Thea_. Kara feels her ears warm.

“Hey, Kara!”

They both turn to see Alex just turning the corner of the hallway and noticing them. She makes her way over. Lucy breaks out into a smile at the sight of Alex. Alex notices Lucy as well and tucks her hair behind her ear but still makes her way over.

“Hey, aren’t you still in class?” Kara asks curiously.

“I needed a break,” Alex lets out a breath, “you know how Dr. Lord gets.”

Kara and Lucy both suck in their breaths at the mere mention of the physics teacher.

Alex nods in agreement. She looks between Kara and Lucy almost torn about who she wants to address. Kara notices this and looks to Lucy, who has become a bit bashful under Alex’s gaze.

Kara suppresses her smile and looks down to the ground. “I should go to study hall…” she tries to excuse herself for their moment.

Alex’s demeanor suddenly changes and she looks slightly panicked. “Wait! Don't go!” She pauses and stutters at the sudden outburst. “I mean--I tried texting you--” she directs strictly to Kara. “About today.”

“Today?” Kara asks dumbly.

“After school,” Alex’s eyes flit over to Lucy briefly and Lucy also looks curious. “About the _thing_ at home.”

Kara stares in confusion for a moment and Alex looks pleadingly at her. It’s then she takes her phone out of her pocket and checks the messages.

 **Alex** : are you going to be home after school?

 **Alex** : i think you should be there

 **Alex** : distract lucy or whatever

 **Alex** : i can’t be alone with her

 **Alex** : kara…

 **Alex** : kara!

“Alex, why can’t you---”

“Stop by the store for...snacks?” Alex interrupts quickly before Kara can say something definitely wrong. She smiles at Lucy, pretending as if nothing’s wrong.

Kara feels her heart pounding because this teetering on the edge of the truth is mortifying. She doesn’t know what she can or can’t say in front of Lucy right now. “I’m not coming home after school,” Kara just reminds instead, hoping that it’ll get her out of this situation. “I’m going to Thea’s to tutor her.”

Alex’s eyes widen the minute Kara says Thea. The look is almost identical to Lucy’s and Kara finds her cheeks warming again. “Come on you two…”

Alex and Lucy look at each other in brief confusion before they realize they’re staring at each other and they shyly look away from each other.

Alex clears her throat. “I didn’t _say_ anything.”

“I didn’t either,” Lucy echoes, crossing her arms.

“It’s just...you’ve been at Thea’s _a lot_ recently,” Alex carefully points out.

“She has a lot of work to catch up on,” Kara explains defensively.

“I know that,” Alex returns quickly, trying not to set off Kara. “I’m just wondering if maybe a little too much.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kara looks at Alex for an explanation and she can’t help but glance at Lucy as well.

“Just...she has a _Queen reputation_ ,” Alex says carefully, glancing around her. “I just want to make sure tutoring is the only thing you’re doing.” Lucy whips her head towards Alex.

Kara’s jaw drops in shock that her sister would sound so judgmental. “Alex, you don’t know her,” she comes immediately to Thea’s defense. “She’s not really a Queen like Oliver is. She’s been doing really well. She’s diligent with catching up on school work. She’s really trying here.”

“Whoa, hey, I don’t know her,” Alex says quickly. “I just don’t want you to get taken advantage of. Like doing all of her work or something.” Alex actually looks at Lucy for agreement but Lucy looks like she wants out of the conversation.

Kara rolls her head back with an exasperated sigh. “No, oh my god, that’s not her.”

Alex is on the verge of saying something before Lucy finally interjects, “It’s true.” Alex looks at Lucy. “Thea’s always been really savvy, she just gets...distracted. I’m sure you’ve also been a good influence on her.”

Kara takes a breath, finding comfort in Lucy’s kind words. “It’s not just me…she’s really nice and funny and clever when you get to know her.”

“I get where Alex is coming from though, Thea’s changed a lot this past year,” Lucy lays down carefully, even as a small smile tugs at her corner of her lips. “We just want to make sure you’re doing good and not getting _taken advantage_ _of_.”

Kara furrows her brows at Lucy because there’s something she isn’t saying.

The worst part is that Lucy clearly has more to tell Kara, but she doesn’t want to say it in front of Alex. Either it was really bad or even worse than bad. Lucy does say she’ll talk to Kara later about it, which doesn’t make Alex too happy, but Kara’s thankful that Lucy always seems to know what to say to pacify Alex’s over protectiveness. Or maybe it’s because Alex likes Lucy enough to chill out.

It’s when Lucy texts her later with

 **Lucy** : the Queen family has a thing for blonde girls ;) ;*

**Lucy** : also they’re apparently great kissers ;* ;* ;* 

_What is that supposed to mean? Why would she need to know that Oliver and Thea are great kissers?_ But the thought becomes significant enough because Kara can’t help but wonder why Lucy is telling her in the first place. 

“Alright, I’m tired of reading about Versailles,” Thea complains as she sits up and her seat to stretch her back. She lets out a loud groan of satisfaction before she realizes that Kara isn’t paying attention. 

Usually Kara pays a lot of attention to her. It’s actually pretty...nice to have someone pay attention to her that isn’t trying to control every aspect of her life. Kara is the most genuine and compassionate person that’s given Thea the time of day. Even if Thea was a bit of a bitch to her when they first met. 

It’d been the end of freshman year, when her dad (who turned out to not actually be her dad) had gone missing on his boating trip and Ollie was a mess with his dating life and her mother just changed. It was a lot for her and she coped by escaping. It was so easy to escape from the lowest points when you’re high. 

That is until you accidentally stumble into Kara Danvers. 

She was stumbling out from under the bleachers, smelling like cigarettes and weed, when Kara found her. The blonde didn’t even say anything and just stared in utter shock as she saw Thea. Thea knew about Kara Danvers, the puppy who couldn’t tell a lie, so she had yelled at her to fuck off and maybe threatened her a little to shut up. 

Kara never said a word as far as Thea knew. She confirmed it when Kara stumbled upon her underneath the bleachers again, this time to save her. It was so surprising because up until that point Thea didn’t exactly remember if she knew Kara or not. But there was Kara, pushing Danny off of her and getting her the hell away from him. 

The experience was sobering in more ways than one. 

“Earth to Kara?” Thea calls out with amusement as she waves her hand in front of Kara’s thoughtful face. 

Kara snaps out of her reverie. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” she immediately apologizes, “I didn’t mean to space out.” She reaches for Thea’s books to see where she is. “What was your question about Versailles?” 

Thea giggles at her tutor. “I didn’t have a question,” she admits. “I was just going to take a quick break.” 

“Oh.” Kara glances at the clock and looks at the progression of Thea’s work. “I suppose, if you want to that’s fine. Not that I have any say over that because you’re your own person. You can make a decision of when you want a break. It’d be good for you, you would know--” 

“Alright, girl calm down,” Thea stops Kara’s rambling with a hand on hers. “I get what you mean. Maybe we both could use a break.” 

Kara’s mouth forms a small O again and she looks down at Thea’s hand over hers, cheeks pinking at the contact. 

Thea bites her lip thoughtfully before grabbing Kara’s hand to pull her away from the dining room table. “Come on, we can raid the kitchen for some ice cream,” she mischievously says. “I think we have some fudge brownie with your name on it.” 

“Okay,” Kara dumbly returns, letting herself be dragged into the kitchen. 

It isn’t until Thea’s pulled out the pint of ice cream and the two spoons that she asks, “So what’s going on?” 

“What do you mean?” Kara asks, pushing her glasses up. She takes one of the spoons and stands opposite of Thea against the island, while Thea stands against the counter digging into the pint. 

“You’ve been unnervingly quiet since we got here,” Thea points out. She takes a small lick of her spoon before handing the pint to Kara. “Did you find out _more_ sordid things about my life?”

Kara’s eyes widen immediately and she digs out a rather large spoonful before shoving it into her mouth. It’s a bad idea because the brain freeze hits her fast and she’s gaping her mouth like she wants to spit it out but she’s clenched her mouth shut trying to shove her tongue against the roof of her mouth. 

Thea just takes the pint back from Kara with a laugh as she watches the blonde struggle for a few moments. 

Kara is really red now. She takes a few breaths as she looks at Thea abashed at her reaction. 

Thea just raises an eyebrow at Kara as she takes another small lick of the chocolate. “So? Why are you being so weird?” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“ _Don’t be_.” Thea hates when Kara apologizes to her. “You’re not doing anything wrong. I’m just curious because usually you have a lot to say.” 

“Oh...do I?” Kara shyly asks as she takes back the pint, digging for a more sensible bite. “I’m sor--” The red on her cheek deepens. “I’m just a little distracted that’s all.”

“Do you want to talk about it? Maybe help you get _less_ distracted?” Thea closes in on Kara, reaching for the pint, just holding it with her fingers over Kara’s. A lot of people may think she’s some dumb rich girl, but Thea has enough experience to know when someone is attracted to her. She licks her lips before digging her spoon into the pint.  

Thea notices the way Kara thickly swallows with the spoon in her mouth as Thea brings the spoon slowly between her lips. Kara’s eyes follow Thea’s lips. 

“Kara?” Thea repeats playfully. She’s grown to like Kara a lot. Kara is kind and old fashioned, chivalrous even, which is flattering for Thea because she’s given plenty of reasons for Kara to hate her but time and time again, Kara’s proven no ulterior motive or ill intent towards Thea. She’s been her champion even.

“Hmm?” The sound almost sounds like a small whimper. 

Thea has to admit Kara is also cute and adorable and super bad ass when she wants to be. It’s both inspirational and attractive. Thea isn’t going to lie, if Kara wasn’t so professional, there could be a few things other than studying they could spend time on. Thea licks her lips again, drawing Kara’s attention to them. “Why are you looking at me like that?” 

Kara clears her throat. “Like what?” She pushes up her glasses again, pretending as if she wasn’t staring.

“Like you want to kiss me.”

Kara’s eyes practically bulge from their sockets. She tries to play it cool with, “Pssh whaaat?” She squeaks it out. Thea just raises her eyebrows and Kara slowly but surely starts to crack. She rubs her face in frustration, pushing up her glasses to rub her eyes. “I’m totally making this weird and awkward. I just got a stupid text from Lucy that has me thinking about you and kissing you.” Kara puts the ice cream on the counter behind her with her spoon and Thea does the same.

“What did this text say?” Thea tries not to sound suspicious. She joked about sordid rumors, she’s heard them all that’s why, but hearing them from Kara always feels a bit different. She almost doesn't want Kara to be disappointed in her.

“The Queen family has a thing for blonde girls and apparently you’re good kissers,” Kara answers, red touching her ears now. “It’s silly, I’m sorry my thoughts were all over the place.”

Thea feels relieved that that’s what Kara’s heard. “Here I thought you were heard something more wild,” Thea admits shyly. “Not that you haven’t seen for yourself to be honest.” She unconsciously looks down. 

“Hey, it’s fine, I don’t care. You were in a different place,” Kara says quickly to reassure her. “And rumors are just rumors.” 

There are no words to describe how grateful she is for Kara. It’s made everything this past year a lot better. High school seems to suck less when you have a friend like Kara. Thea looks up at Kara, who is staring at her with these gentle kind blue eyes. She bites her lip. “So you were thinking about kissing me?” 

Kara blushes. “I can go if that makes you to feel uncomfortable. I promise I won’t let it happen again the next time we meet up.” 

Thea reaches for Kara’s cheek. Kara’s eyes go wide at the touch but she doesn’t move away. “Do you want to kiss me?” she asks.

Kara furrows her brow, staring carefully at Thea. She swallows thickly. “Only if you want me to,” she rasps quietly between them. “You don’t owe me anything.” 

She pulls Kara down slightly and kisses her quickly. There’s a small gasp as their lips meet and Thea smiles against Kara’s extremely soft lips. As Kara slowly kisses back, jaw trembling slightly under Thea’s hand, Thea can taste the strawberry chapstick. Her tongue swipes Kara’s bottom lip to elicit a gasp and just as Kara’s tongue flicks out to meet hers,

“Hey!” Oliver’s deep voice fills the room. 

Kara pulls away quickly but she has nowhere to go, pinned between Thea and the counter. 

Thea just glowers at her brother, completely unembarrassed. “What are you doing home already?” she demands. 

“What are you doing?” Oliver narrows his eyes at Kara, who still tries to move away from Thea but Thea doesn’t leave room for that. 

“We took a study break,” Thea explains with annoyance. She clasps Kara’s hand quickly and starts to drag her out of the kitchen. 

“Really?” Oliver crosses his arms. He tries to block the doorway, but Thea navigates around him with ease, dragging Kara along. “Hey! Where are you going?”

“To have sex!” Thea yells. 

“Thea! We have to study!” 

Thea laughs playfully, dragging Kara all the way up to her room and shutting the door behind them. Kara gasps as her back falls against Thea’s door because Thea is pressed against her front once more. 

“So?” Thea looks up at her mischievously. Her hand comes up to brush Kara’s lip. “Are the rumors true?” Kara stares in confusion. “Are the Queens good kissers?” 


	6. alex/lucy + enemies to friends to lovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex is terrible at emotions and this thing with Lucy Lane has been going on way too long - a story about enemies to friends to lovers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this whole high school au was literally because i wanted to do another alex/lucy story so all the other stories are just bonuses - which is going to happen again because i have another AU in mind that i need to finish AND OF COURSE it ended up longer than intended sorry for this 7k fanfic
> 
> anyway this is a bit of everything, alex coming out, lucy pining for alex, enemies to friends to lovers, you can just read this chapter because i try to make them as stand alone as possible but if you go back to the other stories you'll definitely see some subtext because this takes place 4 months prior to this mini series and presently, so you see their relationship/friendship through other chapters
> 
> anyway enjoy!

Alex isn’t good at emotions. She’s never been good at them. Sure she liked the attention from boys and such because she _thought_ that’s how it was _supposed_ to go. She thought she’d find the cutest guy and be his girlfriend, but honestly the three guys that she’s been with were just _missing_ something. 

Funny enough drinking shitty Coors Light in the back of Sara’s dad’s pick up truck made her realize that those lingering stares at girls who raised their hands in class or girls walking down the halls were _more_ than just stares. Sara climbing on her lap, playing with her hair, and kissing her confirmed it. 

It scared the crap out of her. 

They almost weren’t best friends anymore because not only was Sara in a relationship with Ollie at the time, but because Alex really liked kissing Sara, but she didn’t like Sara like _that_. Which was all the more confusing. 

Then at the beginning of the school year, Alex comes home pissed with a black eye and two sprained fingers.

“Alex, calm down!” Kara rushes after her through the door.

“No, I fucking won’t!” Alex cries out as she stomps through the house. She rips her backpack off her and throws it at the corner of the couch that it knocks down the photo frame sitting at the end table with a crash. 

“Alex, I don’t get why you’re so mad!” Kara says shutting the door after her. “She’s not all _that_ _bad_.”

Of course, it’s also the one day that Eliza is actually home from the lab. They run into her as they pass the dining room. 

“Are you _fucking_ kidding me, Kara?” Alex yells angrily. She tries to ball her fists but her right hand hurts from where her ring and pinky finger are sprained. “I have a black eye because of her!”

“Hey! What’s going on?” Eliza steps in between the two girls. “Alex, what happened?” She goes to Alex and cups her face to look at the nasty bruise on her right eye. “Who did this to you?”

Alex goes quiet at this. Her face is still red and she’s shaking with anger and frustration. She feels ridiculously hurt and she doesn’t even know why. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she grumbles angrily. 

“One of the girls spiked the ball into her face during gym class,” Kara answers for Alex. 

Alex looks over Eliza’s shoulder to shoot a glare at Kara. 

“Was it on purpose?” Eliza asks with concerned, looking at Kara for an honest answer if Alex wasn’t going to talk.

“No!” Kara defends. “Of course it wasn’t.”

“Of course it was!” Alex argues, this time her voice cracks. “You saw all of them, you can’t say that wasn’t a fucking set up!” 

Eliza shoots a confused look at her daughter. “Alex, you need to calm down.” 

Alex opens her mouth to yell some more but her bottom lip quivers and she shuts her mouth. The emotions that have been stirring have been affecting her for awhile now and she can start to feel the tears stinging her eyes. 

“They laughed at her,” Kara says with disappointment. Eliza wraps her arm defensively around Alex’s shoulder before staring at Kara to continue. “The girls on the cheerleading squad were on the other team and after the ball hit Alex’s face they all laughed at her. Some of them said she had it coming.” 

Alex clenches her jaw. 

Eliza looks at her daughter, but Alex just looks away. “Did they say anything else?”

“ _No!_ Lucy told them to stop laughing at her,” Kara defends, “which is what I was _trying_ to tell you, Alex! She didn’t mean to hit you in the face.” 

Alex doesn’t have any of it. She doesn’t want to hear it anymore. She can feel her throat close up from wanting to cry and she steps out of her mother’s grasp to run upstairs. When she gets in her room, she can’t help feeling the overwhelming emotion and slams her door shut behind her. She wants to scream and throw more things, but she’s too rational to do so and instead she climbs into her bed, grabbing her panda pillow pet to hug as she sits on her bed willing herself not to cry. 

All she can think about is that stupid cocky smile on Lucy Lane’s face whenever they pass each other in the hallways or when she answers a question over Alex or corrects Alex in front of everyone. It makes Alex shake inside whenever she sees Lucy and her perfectly fit body and beautifully tan faced and gorgeously wavy short hair. Everyone loves Lucy and it pisses Alex off because she’s so _annoyed_ by her. Lucy has everything, why does she feel the need to compete with her so goddamn much?

The tears welling in her eyes start to burn and they fall when she can’t bear to keep her eyes open any longer. But she quickly wipes them away, bringing her knees to her chest to pin the panda against her chest. 

There’s a soft knock on her door and Alex wipes her eyes faster in case it’s Kara. The door opens slowly and her mother peers into the room.

Alex isn’t sure she wants to talk if she’s just going to get yelled at. 

Eliza comes in with a glass of water in her hand, slowly shutting the door behind her. She approaches Alex carefully and takes a seat on the bed beside her. She doesn’t say anything as she hands her the water. 

Alex swallows, feeling her throat scratchy and takes the glass thankfully. She’s still curled up as her mom sits next to her. “Are you going to yell at me?” 

Eliza looks at her daughter sadly. There’s an indiscernible look on her face. “I’m not going to yell at you,” she says wrapping her arm around Alex’s shoulder to comfort her. “Although, you have to apologize for swearing at Kara. You know, she’s sensitive to that.” 

Alex leans in, letting herself get comfortable. It’s been a long time since she’s felt like she’s needed her mother since her father died. They grew apart...but she wants her mom for once. She doesn’t say anything though. 

It takes a moment, but Eliza finally speaks again, “Do you want to tell me about this Lucy?” 

Alex shuts her eyes at the mention of Lucy and she drops her head onto her mother’s shoulder tiredly. “I don’t wanna.” 

Eliza hums quietly and rubs Alex’s shoulder. 

Alex lets out a shuddering breath though. “She’s just this girl in school that’s been competing with me since freshman year. She’s on the cheerleading squad, but she’s surprisingly ridiculously smart. You think I’m smart, but she can keep up, so she’s in almost all of my classes. She’s annoyingly good at everything and likes to get in my way to prove it.” 

Eliza hums again, this time lighter. “How come I’m only hearing about this now?” There’s a smile in her voice that catches Alex’s attention. 

Alex picks up her head and takes another drink of water, trying to get some distance, suddenly feeling self conscious. She uses that moment to collect herself. “It’s just gotten worse this year. We are both in the running for valedictorian, prepping for PSATs, and choosing colleges.” She picks at the little hairs of her pillow. “I don’t know, she’s just--I feel like I see her all the time and everytime I see her I get so mad.” 

“Is she picking on you?” 

Alex shakes her head. “No, she’s--she just makes all these stupid comments about who is going to curve the test or who is going to mess up in lab first. And she asks me if I need help in lab all the freaking time! Like does it _look_ like I need help?” 

Eliza stares at her with an amused smiles that makes her even more self conscious.

“ _What_? Why are you looking at me like that?” Alex snaps, curling away from her. 

“I’m just--I’ve never seen you like this,” Eliza points out, still smiling. 

“Like _what_?”

“I know that you and I haven’t been particularly close and there’s a lot of things that you like to keep to yourself. But I just want to make sure---Alex, do you have a _crush_ on Lucy?” 

Alex feels her whole body warm, her neck and ears especially as she pushes off the bed uncomfortably. “What? A crush? Mom, I’m not--” she starts defensively. Her heart pounds in her chest because she can’t tell what her mom is getting at. She can’t know. She doesn’t know about Alex liking girls. 

“Alex,” Eliza directs firmly. “Calm down. I’m not trying to make you feel uncomfortable. I just want to know where you’re at.” She pats the space beside her for Alex to sit down. “No one has ever made you lash out like this before and I don’t want you to feel like you can’t talk to me.” 

Alex stares at her mom carefully. She sees the softness in her eyes and slowly sits back down on her bed. She bites the inside of her lip as she plays with the glass in her hand, thumb pressing against the glass thoughtfully. Her heart continues to pound inside of her and the trepidation inside of her grows. She opens her mouth to speak but she doesn’t know where to start. 

The emotions overwhelm her and she feels it ball up in her throat. She shudders out another sigh and crawls on her bed, carefully not tilting the glass, until she can lie her head on Eliza’s lap. 

“Mom…please be okay with this,” Alex begs as she curls up. She can’t bear to look at her mom as she says, “I like girls.” Alex shuts her eyes and lets a moment pass before she feels Eliza’s soft hands brush her hair.

“Hmm,” she sounds softly with acceptance. “It’s okay.” 

Alex peers up to her mom. “You sure?” 

Eliza smiles down at her and nods. “You’re my daughter. I’m sure.” She lets out a breath, relaxing further into the bed as she brushes Alex’s hair. “So Lucy?”

Alex blushes this time and shakes her head. “I don’t know,” she admits. “I’ve barely figured this whole lesbian thing and it’s just been making my head a mess every time Lucy’s around. I don’t know. I’m just scared.” She quietly rubs her sprained fingers to ease the pain.

“From what Kara says, Lucy is a pretty nice girl.” Alex grunts in response that makes Eliza smile. “Have you talked to Lucy? Actually had a conversation with her?” 

Alex frowns. “No? We just bicker and fight.” She sighs. “I just--she just makes me--I-is this how it’s supposed to feel?”

“What?” 

“A crush. When I see her I just get so off balance and out of control like I want to run away and keep running but I keep thinking about her and all the stupid things about her that bother me. And everyone keeps telling me she’s actually nice and she’s not a brat but every time she’s around something inside me just freaks out and it makes me _not_ like her.” 

Eliza lets out a little laugh that makes Alex roll onto her back to look at her mom. 

“What?” Alex narrows her eyes. 

“Sounds to me like you’ve liked her for awhile but you just never knew what to do with those feelings,” Eliza points out. “You know what they say, the more you hate someone, the more you like them.” 

Alex scoffs. “No one says that, mom.” 

Eliza hums. “You say that, but here you are, unreasonably mad at a girl that you’ve barely gotten to know over the last three years.” 

“Ugh,” Alex groans looking up at the ceiling. She lets out a big sigh, feeling the weigh in her chest slowly ebb away. “I feel hurt mom. It really hurt me when that ball hit my face and not because of the ball, but I felt humiliated when those girls started laughing. I just felt like--I don’t know…”

“You thought Lucy wanted to hurt you?” Eliza prods gently. 

Alex shuts her eyes and nods. “She just stood there and stared at me while all the other girls laughed. And usually, I don’t care because it’s their opinion but---I didn’t know what to do so I ran.” She sighs again. 

Eliza quietly sits there, running her fingers through Alex’s hair soothingly. Eliza lets her know that they can talk about it more when Alex figures everything out and starts dinner for them.  

Alex eventually finds her center, trying to focus on what she can do to not waste anymore of her time. She, of course, ignores her feelings for the time being, opting to do more homework hidden away in her room. She doesn’t find Kara downstairs, but she does see the photo frame of their family photo picked up with a single crack across it that makes her feel guilty.

The doorbell rings.

Alex looks confused as she goes to answer the door. 

The last person she expects to see stands before her. 

_ Lucy Lane. _

Lucy stands there a pair of sweatpants and her school track jacket over a simple white t-shirt. She smiles with uncertainty as she stands there clasping something in her hand. 

“Hey, Danvers,” Lucy greets in her sweet voice.

Alex feels the heat rise to her face, her eyes widen, her heart pound in her chest, and her body shake. Without a second thought, she slams the door shut. 

_**“Alex!”** _

There are _two_ admonishing voices that makes Alex turn around. Kara and Eliza stand there both mortified that Alex just slammed the door on Lucy. 

“What’s _she_ doing here?!” Alex hisses, glancing back at the door as if Lucy can see her. 

“We don’t know _now_ ,” Kara sasses, gesturing towards the door. “Don’t be rude!” 

Alex can feel her heart practically beat out of her chest. “No!” is her knee jerk response. Her palms start to sweat because Lucy Lane is at her house. “ _Why_ is she here?!”

Eliza’s lips thin at her daughter and she makes her way past Alex to open the door. Alex _hides_ on the other side much to Kara’s surprise. 

Luckily, Lucy is still standing there, albeit stunned at the door suddenly being slammed on her. 

“Hi, can I help you?” Eliza asks. 

Alex glances through the crack of the doorway to see Lucy’s expression. Lucy pushes her hair back nervously before reaching out her hand.

“My name is Lucy Lane, ma’am, I’m here to speak to your daughter, Alex, if that’s okay?” Lucy informs succinctly and precisely. 

It’s strange for Alex to hear Lucy speak so properly. She’s too used to Lucy’s annoyingly cheerful and carefree voice. She can tell her mother is also surprised as well. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Lucy, I’ve heard about you,” Eliza returns simply as she takes Lucy’s hand. It’s a power move to make Lucy uncomfortable. 

Lucy doesn’t respond just yet, which means there’s an exchange of looks Alex can’t spy from behind the door. Then Lucy calmly says, “Of course. I apologize for giving Alex a black eye, but I hope I can talk to her. If it’s okay with you and if she wants to.” 

Alex can’t contain her curiosity as much as she cowers behind the door. She steps behind her mother, peering around her shoulder slowly. “What do we have to talk about?” she shoots out. 

Lucy doesn’t look surprised at Alex’s sudden appearance. She does look at Eliza for permission before looking at Alex. She doesn’t get to answer. 

“Alex,” Eliza interrupts. “Why don’t you take Lucy to the back porch?” Alex looks like she’s about to protest but she adds, “Let’s not be rude now, she’s come all this way.” She opens the door further for Lucy to enter their home. 

Lucy politely accepts the invitation much to Alex’s dismay. She greets Kara, who welcomes her with open arms and whispers something in her ear that Alex can’t quite catch. Lucy doesn’t seemed bothered as she pats Kara’s arms.

Alex stiffly stands there, back as straight at Lucy’s before she jerks her hand in the general vicinity of where she’s leading Lucy. There’s a sense of dread that fills Alex as she leads Lucy outside. It’s one thing to see Lucy at school, but it’s completely different to see her elsewhere, let alone her own home. It’s a sacred space. Her sacred space.

They get outside and Alex takes a deep breath of fresh air to prepare herself. She looks out from the vantage point they are at and sees the docks in the distance. 

“I’ve never seen Star City quite like this,” Lucy says as she stands beside Alex near the railing. 

Alex crosses her arms, her pinky and ring fingers carefully grasp her arm. She’s been meaning to wrap that since she’s gotten back. “What did you come here for?” Alex asks without exactly looking at Lucy. 

Lucy turns to look at Alex fully, for a brief moment she bows her head demurely as she looks at her. “I wanted to make sure you were okay,” she answers, picking her words carefully. 

Alex lets out a scoff. “Why--why would you care?”

Lucy takes a deep breath and her hand reaches out to touch Alex, but she thinks twice when Alex notices how close she is. “Because I care about what you think,” she admits. Alex stares dubiously. “About me.”

Alex furrows her brows. “What’re you talking about?” 

“Do you remember chem class with Dr. Wells?” Lucy asks. 

Alex nods, remembering it clearly. “You came in late and turns out you and I were the only freshmen in the class.” 

Lucy smiles. “So he paired us up and I went over to your bench and tried to help.” Alex narrows her eyes. “I was so nervous being new and I poured in the sodium hydroxide instead of the sulfuric acid into the copper solution. You were so mad.” She scratches the back of her neck nervously.  “I tried so hard to talk to you after that, you know, to make it up?”

“You did not,” Alex scoffs. 

“I definitely did,” Lucy argues. “I tried giving you a pastry but we were in lab and you were all ‘ _we can’t have food in lab, you should put that away_.’” Alex nods in agreement and Lucy lets out a small laugh. “I ate an unnecessary amount of chocolate croissants for a week because you didn’t realize I was trying to give you it.” There’s a small blush on Lucy’s cheeks as she briefly looks to her feet. “I wanted you to like me.” 

Alex feels her cheeks warm. “Why are you telling me this now?” She curls up into herself just a bit more, hoping that Lucy doesn’t notice. 

“Because I just don’t know what I’ve done to make you hate me so much,” Lucy looks upset as she stares directly at Alex’s black eye, “but if you do it’s okay.” Her fingers come up gently under her sprained ones and Alex feels a shock from the touch. “I just want you to know that I would never hurt you.” 

Alex shies away from Lucy’s electrifying touch, feeling her cheeks warm instantly. There’s a hurt look on Lucy’s face and she takes a step back to give them a modest space. Alex feels her heart jump. “I don’t!” She blurts out. “I me-mean, I-I-I don’t hate you.”

Lucy’s eyes widen and slowly asks, “You don’t?” 

Alex bites her lip and shakes her head. “It’s complicated.” Lucy stares at Alex in confusion and Alex reddens. She has feelings for Lucy, _sure_ , but she doesn’t know what that means. What does she do with them? “I-just, I don’t hate you. Like I want to hate you because of your annoyingly smart ass answers in class and ridiculously perfect hair and stupidly pretty face, but you’re not like _evil_. You just--every time you get near me I get so crazy--I don’t know.” Alex feels like she’s run a marathon after her rambling. And honestly, she doesn’t know what she was trying to achieve. 

There’s a brief moment of silence as Lucy studies her. There’s an adorable tilt of her head as she asks, “You think I’m pretty?” 

Alex blushes hard. “That wasn’t the point,” Alex sasses quickly, looking anywhere that isn’t Lucy. “People always talk about you. Lots of people say you’re pretty. I’m just--I just--I’m not going to disagree. It’s hard not to notice you when we have class together like all the time.” 

As Alex continues to ramble, Lucy just stares at her with an annoying half smile at the corner of her lips. She looks like she’s trying to figure something out and she does with loud and wide eye, “Oh!” 

Alex’s eyes widen. “It’s not a big deal--you’re not unnoticeable and I just happen to notice. I’m not--” 

Before Alex get another word out Lucy lunges forward and presses her lips against Alex’s. Alex’s eyes widen because Lucy is kissing her and it’s all awkward and strange because she wasn’t expecting it and her mouth is weirdly open because she’s in the middle of her words. But Lucy’s lips are so soft and smooth and then they move--Alex gasps softly that allows Lucy’s lips to slot between hers, kissing her bottom lip gently. Alex slowly kisses Lucy back because it feels nice. 

It feels right. 

Kissing Sara was completely different, they were drunk so it was sloppy and hot. Sara pushed down on her just right to make her heart pound and kissed her roughly. 

Lucy on the other hand takes her time. She kisses Alex so sweetly like she’s savoring the moment. 

Alex savors it too. Those times in class when she sees Lucy speak so much, only to spend the rest of the day fixated on Lucy’s lips. She’s pushed the thoughts of how Lucy’s lips have felt against her to the dark corners of her mind because she never thought this day would ever come. She thought she was a freak for even letting a blip of imagination through. Now Lucy’s here kissing her. 

Reality comes crashing back and Alex quickly puts her hands on Lucy’s shoulders to push her back. 

“Wait, wait-what’re you doing?” Alex lets out quickly, her heart frantically beating inside her. She unconsciously looks around thinking she’s in school and the cheerleading squad is going to pop out and laugh at her.

“I’m so sorry!” Lucy immediately apologizes from the look on Alex’s face. “I just got a bit excited--you were saying--and I thought--you like girls right? I didn’t just misinterpret this whole ‘repressed gay trope’ thing right?” 

“Repressed gay trope?” Alex lets out, sounding more offended than she wants to. 

Lucy misinterprets this and quickly steps back. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I clearly misinterpreted this. I thought you were telling me that the reason why it seemed like you hated me so much was because you actually liked me. And I got really excited because you liked me, but probably not like _like_ me.” Lucy rubs her temples, horrified at herself. “I’m such a mess. I’m so sorry if that was way out of line and I made you uncomfortable. Everything just made sense like I like you and you like me back but now you probably actually do hate me.” She wrings her fingers in her hands, sleeves coming down just enough to barely show them. “I should probably go. I’m pretty sure I’ve done enough.” 

Alex takes a second to soak in what Lucy’s said. It’s different on the receiving end of a ramble and there’s only one thing that sticks out. “You like me?” Lucy stops walking away from Alex to look back at her. “You like like me?” 

Lucy takes a deep breath and squares herself before turning to Alex. She stands bravely before Alex and nods confidently. “Yes. I like like you. I’ve had a crush on you since day one.”

Alex dumbly says, “Oh.” The certainty in Lucy’s voice makes Alex feel inadequate. “Are you...gay?”

Lucy shakes her head. “I’m bisexual. I don’t advertise it but my family knows and the girls on the squad know for the most part.” 

“And they don’t care?”

Lucy’s lip tighten because she’s trying to smile, but there’s a bit of sadness in her eyes. “My dad isn’t entirely okay with it, but the girls don’t really care.”

“Are you sure?” Alex asks wearily. 

Lucy nods. “They just do that stupid whisper thing in the halls when they see you and say stupid stuff because they know I have a crush on you.” Alex’s eyes widen at Lucy’s admission. “Don’t worry, it’s--they don’t think you’re a lesbian. They think you just hate me. And they automatically take my side because I’m on the squad.”

Alex nods, trying to make sense of everything. She just doesn’t even know where to begin. She’s still trying to process her own feelings and while it helps to get a better understanding of Lucy, she just doesn’t know what to do. 

“Look, Alex, I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable or confused,” Lucy begins sadly, “but if you want, we can forget about this and move on. Whatever you want to do.” She still stands tall but Alex notices the shimmer in her green eyes. 

“How I feel about you is very...complicated,” Alex begins softly, trying to gain the courage Lucy’s had this entire time. “I like you but I’ve tried so hard to not like you that everything is confusing. I have a million thoughts running through my head and I’m still processing them.”

Lucy nods, standing there patiently for Alex to continue. 

“I liked kissing you,” Alex blurts out for one thing that she’s sure of. “You’re really good at that.” She lets out nervously with a shy smile. “But we just--we’re not friends and we don’t know much about each other.”

“Do you want to try getting to know each other?” Lucy’s eyes brighten eagerly. 

Alex shyly tucks her hair behind her ear. “As in--”

“Friends?” Lucy offers. “To start? I mean, no pressure obviously. If you want to your own thing, I support that.”

Lucy just stares up at Alex with bright hopeful eyes and her chest tightens because it’s beautiful. Her first instinct is to look away but Lucy’s presence is so warm and inviting, she can’t. So she fights that urge to run because it’s clear that Lucy has been trying and _still_ wants to try. Alex takes a breath and nods. “Okay. I think that might help. Friends.” 

Lucy smiled brightly at her that day, gingerly taking Alex’s hand. Her first act as her friend was to help splint her sprained fingers with the Icy Hot she had been fiddling with in her pocket. While Alex blushed profusely at how gentle Lucy was being, they had their first real conversation. 

Four months later and Alex finds herself dragging her feet because she knows she’s in deep shit. She has feelings for Lucy. Real legitimate feelings. 

Those feelings are getting harder and harder to ignore the more time they spend together. 

It’s kind of crazy how much they have in common (from little things like their favorite movies and ice cream to big things like their convictions to right wrongs and defend the little guy). More importantly, they complement each other so well. Lucy is easy to get along with Alex finds out, when she pushes her sharp tongue and wit to the back of her mind to actually listen to Lucy. Lucy is genuinely kind and thoughtful; the reason she seems like she knows everything all the time is because she actually does. She pays attention to her friends and family as well as Alex does, observing little nuance behaviors and habits, but she’s much better at sympathizing than Alex is, reaching out when she cares and helping from the beginning to end.

It’s so frustrating for Alex because she’s painted a vastly different picture of Lucy and now that she’s looking at it again, it’s completely different. She doesn’t feel annoyed and jealous of Lucy, she actually admires Lucy. And she likes her. All of the things she held in contempt before are things that have grown to be endearing to Alex. She can’t imagine Lucy any other way.

The only problem is telling Lucy how she feels. It’s been four months of “being friends.” It was stupidly open ended for Alex to say they could be friends because now she feels like that’s all they are. It was really Alex’s fault; she knows it. Not only was Alex not good at dealing with emotions, but she was even worse at showing physical affection. She is careful and choosy about who she hugs and who she lets touch her. Lucy unconsciously broke through all those barriers because she’s an affectionate person. She’s just as affectionate as Kara is, which is why they’re such good friends. But just as Alex is getting used to Lucy, she feels like Lucy’s starting to pull away.

And Alex doesn't know why.

Lucy doesn’t let her stares linger too long, doesn’t stand too close to Alex, and doesn’t let her hand linger on Alex’s. It bothers Alex and she doesn’t know what to do. All she knows is that she wants Lucy in more ways than one. It scares her how much she wants Lucy.

Lucy is always sure. It’s one of the many things she’s learned from Lois. If there were things that she wanted in life, she had to be sure of it. It’s what drives her to take action because if you didn’t then what was the point? What was the point of life if you didn’t take action to do what was good and right and just? 

It doesn’t mean that she isn’t scared. At some points, she’s completely mortified. That’s how she knows she wants something, when she’s so scared it keeps her up at night. By morning, she would’ve resolved to do something about it.

It started as a crush when she was a freshman. Just seeing a pretty girl like Alex that intimidated her right to the core. Then it changed into a bit of infatuation. Lucy played with Alex, teasing her, poking fun, just to get her attention because Alex didn’t want her and would never want her. Now, she was as sure as a heart attack that she liked Alex. All because just four months ago, the truth came out. Alex came out to her. She came out to Alex. Then they were trying to be friends.

_ Friends.  _

Being _just_ friends with Alex kind of sucks because Alex is the only one she wants. 

People always think it’s easy for her to make friends. It doesn’t take much to be kind and genuine with people. But to be intimate with someone? To feel as close as she does with Alex? 

Alex is probably the only one she’s ever talked to about her relationship with Lois and how ever since she’s come out to her family, that everything is a bit shittier than it seems because her father can’t seem to accept all of her. Lucy shrugs it off, but Alex is the one that gingerly places an arm around Lucy’s shoulder to pull her into a half hug before letting Lucy rest her head on her shoulder. 

It isn’t fair that the one person she is close to, that she cares to be close to, probably doesn’t like her back at this point. And as much as Lucy wants to push it, she won’t. She wants to be respectful of Alex and their friendship. At first it was so amusing to watch Alex squirm in her proximity and tease her whenever possible. Now, she’s worried that she won’t just be teasing or joking with Alex anymore. There are moments where she looks at Alex and all she wants to do is kiss her soft lips until she runs out of breath.

Lucy hates feeling unsure of what to do. Does she keep waiting for Alex to maybe change her mind about being friends? Or should she just give up?

The dining room is quiet and tense. 

They’re together. Alone. At Alex’s house. Doing homework. 

They’re sitting across from each other with all of their books spread out between them with their laptops open like barriers.

The only sound that fills the room is the tapping of Lucy’s fingers against the keyboard and Alex’s mouse clicking, Lucy has diligently started their research paper, while Alex works on the graphics for their poster. 

To say that Lucy is strictly focused on the paper would be untrue. She can’t help but look up at her partner at some points to catch Alex push her hair behind her ears or bite her lip in deep concentration. Just for a second. 

They haven’t been alone in awhile. Lately, there have been buffers to help Lucy distract herself from Alex. Usually, Kara is there but today she’s staying late at Thea’s. And Alex’s mom is out of town for a conference. 

Through the quiet, there’s a low grumble and Lucy looks up to see Alex blushing. 

“Sorry, I’m getting hungry,” Alex murmurs as she sits back in her chair. 

Lucy glances at the clock and realizes it’s close to dinner time. “Right, maybe we should call it a day?” she offers. 

Alex seems a little bit tense but she nods. “I can look over the essay?”

“It’s on the Google Drive,” Lucy reminds as she closes her laptop and starts shutting her books. 

“Oh, right. Uh...do you want to take a look at the poster so far?” Alex asks. 

Lucy stops gathering her books and nods. “Sure, I mean I’m sure it looks fine since the last time we looked it over.” She gets out of her seat and walks over to Alex. She pauses to see if Alex is going to move her laptop towards her, but she doesn’t. Instead, Alex just sits back in her chair and lets Lucy take a look. Lucy takes a deep breath before leaning over to get a better look. 

Their research paper is on ovarian cancer in pregnant women. It surprisingly didn’t take them long to choose a topic to research together. Lucy told Alex about her mother’s battle with cancer when she was pregnant with Lucy. Instead of expressing her condolences like many people have done when Lucy says her mother died (which is why she doesn’t talk about her mom since moving to Star City), Alex put two and two together and quietly admitted that she wants to become a doctor one day so it’d be good to know for the future.

Alex radiates heat as she leans over. It’s a joke that she liked making whenever they hung out to watch movies or play video games. It’s a comforting warmth that Lucy likes being around; it’s especially pleasing when she lets herself cuddle against Alex’s side because Alex would quietly grumble or tense but let Lucy do it anyway. Eventually, Alex would give in and let her, even casually throwing an arm around her.

“The poster looks good,” Lucy says after a brief moment. Suddenly, she feels too close and stands back up quickly, barely glancing at the poster. “We will just need some graphics.”

“Right, were you able to find some?” 

“Yep, they’re in the paper. You can use the data figures I highlighted.” Lucy makes her way back around the table to pack her backpack. 

Alex makes a small sound of realization. “Are you leaving?” 

Lucy nods. “Yeah, it’s getting close to dinner time.” She doesn’t really want to go home, since no one is there, but staying with Alex alone in her home is a recipe for disaster.

“Y-you can stay?” Alex offers politely. “I was just going to make something to eat and I always have extra.”

Lucy just looks at Alex. Alex is always polite when they’re at her house, the ever so nice hostess. As much as she wants to say yes, she can see how nervous and skittish Alex is. There’s a look in her eyes that Lucy reads as ‘please say no.’ She focuses harder on packing up her things and lets the lame excuses out. “It’s alright, I really appreciate it. I should probably go home for dinner.”

“Is everything okay?” Alex suddenly asks. 

Lucy tenses. “Yeah,” she lies easily. “Why wouldn’t everything be okay?”

“I just--you told me your dad was going to be out of town this week, so I thought--you usually like to stay here.”

Lucy feels her right eye twitch unconsciously when she’s being read. Alex knows her all too well; on days her father isn’t home, she usually works late at Alex’s place and Eliza or Kara suggests she just spends the night so she’s not alone. She’s gotten quite used to the comfort of the guest bedroom next to Alex’s room. 

It makes it hard for her to say no, but she has to. She can’t keep intruding on Alex like this. “It’s alright,” she resolves. “I should go.” She practically throws the rest of her backpack.

“Lucy, what’s going on?” Alex asks, voice trembling. 

Lucy looks up and notices Alex moving to stand beside her. Before she can even react, Alex grabs her hand to stop her from zipping her backpack. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. I just should go.” 

“Wait, are you sure? Are-are you okay?” Alex’s eyes briefly search hers but they both avert their gazes. She looks at Alex’s hand on her because it feels like fire and she looks back up at her, gently pulling away. Alex visibly stiffens. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lucy says as she steps back to finish zipping her backpack. She can tell how increasingly uncomfortable Alex is. It’s like she’s trying hard to care about Lucy. “I don’t want to intrude.” 

“Intrude?” Alex repeats in confusion. “How would you be intruding? You’re always here anyway.” 

“Don’t sound so enthused by that,” Lucy unconsciously mumbles throwing her backpack over her shoulder. 

Alex reels back. “I’m sorry what?” 

Lucy shakes her head. “Nothing. It’s nothing. I’m gonna go.” 

“Wait, Lucy, I’m serious. What’s going on with you? Are you mad at me?” There’s genuine confusion and concern written all over Alex’s face that makes Lucy feel guilty. Her feelings about this whole situation is her own fault. She’s just trying to remove herself from the situation before she does something stupid. 

Lucy sighs. “No, I’m not mad at you.” She rubs her forehead. “I’m just tired that’s all.”

“Why are you lying to me?” 

“I’m not lying.” 

Alex crosses her arms. “You are,” Alex declares, knowing full well that Lucy hates when someone tells her how she feels. “You’re mad at me and you’re lying about it.” 

“I’m not,” Lucy grits, clenching her backpack straps. 

“You totally are,” Alex points out with a knowing smile. She’s doing it on purpose. She’s trying to make Lucy mad.

“I know what you’re doing,” Lucy throws back. “You’re trying to make me mad enough so that I can just blow up and tell you what’s wrong.” 

Alex narrows her eyes. “ _Are_ you going to tell me what’s wrong?” 

“No!” 

“So there is _something_ wrong!”

Lucy throws her hand up in frustration before turning to walk out of the dining room. 

“Lucy!” Alex chases after her. “Come on. What is going on? Why are you being like this?”

“I’m not being anything.”

“It sure seems like you are. I thought we were friends.”

Lucy bites the urge to groan at friends. She holds her head up high and turns around to Alex. “We are,” she declares, sounding harsher than she intends to. 

Alex notices this and pauses midstep with a shocked look on her face. It takes a moment for the look to change and Lucy can see the hurt in Alex’s face. After a breath, Alex quietly asks, “Then why won’t you talk to me?”

Lucy feels guilty because this is Alex letting her guard down. She can see it all over Alex’s face. She does care about Lucy and as much as it warms her heart to know that Alex cares, it feels so insignificant to what Lucy wants. In that moment, she wants Alex way too much. 

There are plenty of things she wants to say to Alex. All of the feelings she’s been suppressing for the sake of their friendship threatens to spill out before them in that moment. It just feels unfair because Lucy knows that Alex doesn’t feel the same way. 

“Something is clearly bothering you,” Alex points out again, carefully, with concern in her voice. “Is it something at home? Is it school? Is it actually _me_?” As she says it, Lucy can see the hurt in Alex’s face. 

The first time she saw that was four months ago on the volleyball court. She’d been so focused on the game, she forgot that the girls on the squad were saying things to Alex, trying to put her in her place for the sake of Lucy. She’d told the girls time and time again to just lay off, especially when she’s around. 

The set up for the spike was perfect and she hadn’t realized Alex would be there until she saw her tripping into view. Before Alex could right herself to make the save, the ball hit her right in the face. Everyone had laughed - stupid first instinct - but Lucy tried to rush over except Alex was too quick, rushing off before she could get to her. 

The look on Alex’s face was something she couldn’t forget. It had morphed from shock to hurt in just seconds. That time it was because of Lucy. 

This time it is because of Lucy. 

She can’t stand seeing Alex look hurt because of how she feels. It’s not right. 

“No, it’s not you,” Lucy says softly, biting the urge to touch Alex. “It’s me.” 

Alex doesn’t stop staring at Lucy with a sullen look. “Why does this vaguely sound like the beginning of a break up?” 

Lucy sighs at the ill timed joke. “Alex…,” Lucy gently cautions. They’d have to be dating for them to break up. 

“Okay, okay,” Alex tries not to joke. She searches Lucy’s eyes. She bites her lip nervously. “Why--don’t you just s-stay?”

“It’s fine, really. I don’t mind going.” Lucy tries to steel herself. She doesn’t want to misinterpret Alex. 

Alex reaches out to grasp Lucy’s wrist gently. “I know you don’t like being home alone, what if I _want_ you to stay with me? Will that make you feel better?” 

Lucy internally groans. “You can’t say things like that.” 

“Like what?” Alex cluelessly asks. “Like I care?” 

“Yes exactly that,” Lucy grumbles. She can’t take it anymore. It’s too much when Alex doesn’t realize how the little things matter to Lucy. She takes a deep breath and prepares herself. “God, I can’t do this anymore.” 

“Luce…” 

“No, just give me a second to say this.” Alex nods slowly and the look on her face makes Lucy feel worse. “It’s been great being your friend because I love hanging out with you and talking to you and getting to know you. You’re like my best friend. And I know that we said we’d be friends, but I don’t want to be _just_ _friends_. I still like you, like _really like_ you as more than a friend.” Alex’s eyes widen in shock. “And I know you probably don’t feel the same but I just--”

Her words are cut off as Alex’s hands cup her cheeks and their lips are pressed together. Her eyes widen as Alex kisses her soundly that she forgets to kiss back. But Alex’s eyes are closed, brows furrowed with concentration, as she kisses her. Just as Lucy thinks to kiss back, Alex pulls away. 

Alex’s cheeks are pink and she bites her lips with uncertainty. “I’m sorry,” she says softly, not letting go of Lucy’s cheeks. 

“I’m so confused right now,” Lucy says despite the smile on her lips. Alex kissed her! Her heart is pounding inside of her. 

“I like you too,” Alex admits, biting the inside of her cheek. “I really like you as more than a friend. I just didn’t know how to tell you. I was scared that maybe you only saw me as a friend that’s why you were pulling away.”

“I wanted to give us some space so I wouldn’t do something like--” 

“Accidentally kiss me?” This time Lucy blushes and Alex just smiles. 

Lucy tilts her head up and Alex meets her halfway to kiss her again. She slowly wraps her arms around Alex’s shoulders. Alex’s hands come down to her waist, just underneath her backpack. It feels like a dream kissing Alex. It’s just like their first time, paced and unrushed, like they’ve been dying to do that forever. Lucy can imagine kissing Alex forever because she loves the way Alex quietly sighs into her and holds onto her; it makes her melt against Alex. 

When they pull away to breathe, both of them try to catch their breath with a blush. 

“Alex,” Lucy huskily starts, “do you wanna go steady with me?” 

Alex suppresses a laugh. “Why do you always sound so proper?”

“It’s called having manners,” Lucy sasses playfully. Alex giggles as she pulls Lucy in. “So?”

Alex nods. “I’m so glad you asked because I would never have the guts to.” 

Lucy laughs as they hug tightly. “I’m so happy right now.” 

“Yeah. Me too,” Alex admits as she nuzzles the top of Lucy’s hair a bit. “You’re my girlfriend.” Lucy hugs Alex even tighter in affirmation.  

The door suddenly opens and Alex and Lucy unconsciously jump from each other because Kara comes in a flurry. She pauses at the doors, eyes wide open, shirt and jacket unkempt as she balances her backpack on her shoulder. Lucy’s eyes widen at the sight of Kara’s neck.

“Hey, guys! What’s up? Nothing’s up with me.” Kara lets out a goofy giggle. “I’m just getting back from Thea’s and I’m just going to put my stuff upstairs. Are we having dinner? I’m starving. I’ll be right back!” 

Before Alex can even respond, Kara rushes up for the stairs behind them and disappears. She looks back at Lucy in complete confusion. 

“What was that?” Alex asks. “Should I be worried?” 

Lucy snickers. “She’s going to try to hide that hickey on her neck.” 

“The what?!” Alex yells in shock as she takes off after Kara. “Kara! You have a hickey?!” 

Lucy laughs to herself as she takes off her backpack. “Alex, wait!” She yells as she chases her girlfriend up the stairs.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! come say hello on nocteverbascio.tumblr.com


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